Challenge Gamer: Difference between revisions

The usually less annoying [[Sister Trope]] to the [[Stop Having Fun Guy]], the Challenge Gamer has equal dedication to his 'art' but instead of striving to surpass others, he focuses instead on improving his own skills as far as they will go. This is the type of gamer who gets [[Gameplay Grading|high scores]] on [[Nintendo Hard]] games at [[Harder Than Hard|full]] [[Fake Difficulty]], and loves nothing more than to tell (and '''show!''') infuriated casual gamers ([[Scrub|scrubsscrub]]s included) that ''it can be done after all''. They may also specialize in various [[Self-Imposed Challenge|Self Imposed Challenges]] such as the myriad types of 'runs', or attempt to see [[Script Breaking|how horribly they can destroy the game system]].

Those who lose patience with less than optimal play may become [[Stop Having Fun Guy|Stop Having Fun Guys]]s but most don't bother with how others play because that would distract them from scoring practice. Their games are no less [[Serious Business]], however. Also, expect fewer cheating accusations as their typical reaction on seeing someone else do better is to go home, boot up their own copy and beat the score themselves.

Most of these gamers tend to be Japanese as many companies that produce games that cater to this sort of play generally [[No Export for You|don't release those games outside of Japan]], thereby keeping Western players out of the loop. If you see high scores two or three digits ''longer'' than the norm, [[No Damage Run|No Damage Runs]]s of [[That One Boss]] or [[Kill Screen|complete playthroughs]] of [[Endless Game|games that shouldn't have an end]], you're looking at one of these.

* ''[[Battletoads]].'' Anyone who got past level 3 (much less BEAT it) without Game Genie/savestates/a Sega Genesis is probably a [[Challenge Gamer]].

* ''[[Super Monkey Ball]]'' has a huge [[Challenge Gamer]] following to the point that [http://www.elitescores.com/ there's an entire site primarily dedicated to it].

* Any well-designed racing game that has a Time Trial mode with [[Racing Ghost|Racing Ghosts]]s. The latest ''Mario Kart'' games have taken to providing players with online ghosts that are slightly faster than the player's best time, putting Challenge Gamers into a continuous cycle of out-racing ghosts and downloading better ones.

* Many, many players of [[Rhythm Game|Rhythm Games]]s, particularly the Bemani franchise. There's ''[[Guitar Hero]]'' and ''[[Rock Band]]'' players getting full combos, ''[[Dance Dance Revolution]]'' and ''[[Pop N Music]]'' players going for perfect scores, and ''[[Beatmania IIDX]]'' players getting AAA's (which are ''not'' perfect scores, as perfection is impossible on any song that isn't a total cakewalk due to the strict timing judgments).

* ''[[Ikaruga]]'' is a feat to complete already even on its normal difficulty. How can a [[Challenge Gamer]] do better? By completing it on the max difficulty, specifically shooting enemies in a way to accumulate the maximum amount of points... while controlling [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz60aFSs5aU BOTH SHIPS AT THE SAME TIME]!

** ''Metroid'' is also a common stomping ground of the [[Challenge Gamer]], the games even change their ending depending on how fast you complete it and with how many items you acquired.

=== In-universe examples: ===